1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of signal processing, and, more specifically, to a power control system that includes a switch state controller for a switching power converter that operates in at least some circumstances from an operating voltage derived from one or more sense currents. Each sense current is resistively derived from a voltage of the switching power converter.
2. Description of the Related Art
Power control systems often utilize a switching power converter to convert alternating current (AC) voltages to direct current (DC) voltages or DC-to-DC. Switching power converters often include a nonlinear energy transfer process to provide power factor corrected energy to a load. Power control systems provide power factor corrected and regulated output voltages to many devices that utilize a regulated output voltage.
FIG. 1 represents a power control system 100, which includes a switching power converter 102. Voltage source 101 supplies an alternating current (AC) input voltage Vin(t) to a full bridge diode rectifier 103. The voltage source 101 is, for example, a public utility, and the AC voltage Vin(t) is, for example, a 60 Hz/110 V line voltage in the United States of America or a 50 Hz/220 V line voltage in Europe. The rectifier 103 rectifies the input voltage Vin(t) and supplies a rectified, time-varying, line input voltage VX(t) to the switching power converter.
The switching power converter 102 includes power factor correction (PFC) stage 124 and driver stage 126. The switching power converter 102 includes at least two switching operations, i.e. switching switch 108 to provide power factor correction and switching switch 108 to provide regulation of output voltage VO(t). The PFC stage 124 is controlled by switch 108 and provides power factor correction. The driver stage 126 is also controlled by switch 108 and regulates the transfer of energy from the line input voltage VX(t) through inductor 110 to capacitor 106. The inductor current iL ramps ‘up’ when the switch 108 conducts, i.e. is “ON”. The inductor current iL ramps down when switch 108 is nonconductive, i.e. is “OFF”, and supplies current iL to recharge capacitor 106. The time period during which inductor current iL ramps down is commonly referred to as the “inductor flyback time”. Diode 111 prevents reverse current flow into inductor 110. In at least one embodiment, the switching power converter 102 operates in discontinuous current mode, i.e. ramp up time of the inductor current iL plus the inductor flyback time is less than the period of the control signal CS0, which controls the conductivity of switch 108.
Input current iL is proportionate to the ‘on-time’ of switch 108, and the energy transferred to inductor 110 is proportionate to the ‘on-time’ squared. Thus, the energy transfer process is one embodiment of a nonlinear process. In at least one embodiment, control signal CS0 is a pulse width modulated signal, and the switch 108 is a field effect transistor (FET), such as an n-channel FET. Control signal CS0 is a gate voltage of switch 108, and switch 108 conducts when the pulse width of CS0 is high. Thus, the ‘on-time’ of switch 108 is determined by the pulse width of control signal CS0. Accordingly, the energy transferred to inductor 110 is proportionate to a square of the pulse width of control signal CS0.
Capacitor 106 supplies stored energy to load 112. The capacitor 106 is sufficiently large so as to maintain a substantially constant output voltage VC(t), as established by a switch state controller 114 (as discussed in more detail below). The output voltage VC(t) remains substantially constant during constant load conditions. However, as load conditions change, the output voltage VC(t) changes. The switch state controller 114 responds to the changes in VC(t) and adjusts the control signal CS0 to restore a substantially constant output voltage as quickly as possible. The switch state controller 114 includes a small capacitor 115 to filter any high frequency signals from the line input voltage VX(t).
The switch state controller 114 of power control system 100 controls switch 108 and, thus, controls power factor correction and regulates output power of the switching power converter 102. The goal of power factor correction technology is to make the switching power converter 102 appear resistive to the voltage source 101. Thus, the switch state controller 114 attempts to control the inductor current iL so that the average inductor current iL is linearly and directly related to the line input voltage VX(t). Prodić, Compensator Design and Stability Assessment for Fast Voltage Loops of Power Factor Correction Rectifiers, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, Vol. 22, No. 5, September 2007, pp. 1719-1729 (referred to herein as “Prodić”), describes an example of switch state controller 114. The switch state controller 114 supplies the pulse width modulated (PWM) control signal CS0 to control the conductivity of switch 108. The values of the pulse width and duty cycle of control signal CSo depend on sensing two signals, namely, the line input voltage VX(t) and the capacitor voltage/output voltage VC(t).
Switch state controller 114 receives the two voltage signals, the line input voltage VX(t) and the output voltage VC(t), via a wide bandwidth current loop 116 and a slower voltage loop 118. The line input voltage VX(t) is sensed from node 120 between the diode rectifier 103 and inductor 110. The output voltage VC(t) is sensed from node 122 between diode 111 and load 112. The current loop 116 operates at a frequency fc that is sufficient to allow the switch state controller 114 to respond to changes in the line input voltage VX(t) and cause the inductor current iL to track the line input voltage to provide power factor correction. The current loop frequency is generally set to a value between 20 kHz and 130 kHz. The voltage loop 118 operates at a much slower frequency fv, typically 10-20 Hz. By operating at 10-20 Hz, the voltage loop 118 functions as a low pass filter to filter an alternating current (AC) ripple component of the output voltage VC(t).
The switch state controller 114 controls the pulse width (PW) and period (TT) of control signal CS0. Thus, switch state controller 114 controls the nonlinear process of switching power converter 102 so that a desired amount of energy is transferred to capacitor 106. The desired amount of energy depends upon the voltage and current requirements of load 112. To regulate the amount of energy transferred and maintain a power factor close to one, switch state controller 114 varies the period of control signal CS0 so that the input current iL tracks the changes in input voltage VX(t) and holds the output voltage VC(t) constant. Thus, as the input voltage VX(t) increases, switch state controller 114 increases the period TT of control signal CS0, and as the input voltage VX(t) decreases, switch state controller 114 decreases the period of control signal CS0. At the same time, the pulse width PW of control signal CS0 is adjusted to maintain a constant duty cycle (D) of control signal CS0, and, thus, hold the output voltage VC(t) constant. In at least one embodiment, the switch state controller 114 updates the control signal CS0 at a frequency much greater than the frequency of input voltage VX(t). The frequency of input voltage VX(t) is generally 50-60 Hz. The frequency 1/TT of control signal CS0 is, for example, between 20 kHz and 130 kHz. Frequencies at or above 20 kHz avoid audio frequencies and frequencies at or below 130 kHz avoid significant switching inefficiencies while still maintaining good power factor, e.g. between 0.9 and 1, and an approximately constant output voltage VC(t). Power control system also includes auxiliary power supply 128. Auxiliary power supply 128 is the primary power source for providing operating power to PFC and output voltage controller 114. However, as subsequently discussed in more detail with reference to FIG. 3B, during certain power loss conditions, the auxiliary power supply 128 is unable to provide sufficient operating power to PFC and output voltage controller 114.
FIG. 2 depicts power control system 100 using voltage sensing. The power control system 100 includes series coupled resistors 202 to sense the input voltage VX(t) and generate an input sense voltage Vsx. The series coupled resistors 202 form a voltage divider, and the input sense voltage Vsx is sensed across the last resistor 204. The voltage divider uses multiple resistors because input voltage VX(t) is generally higher than the voltage rating of individual resistors. Using a series of resistors allows the voltage across each resistor to remain within the voltage rating of the resistors. Using 300 kohm resistors as the first three resistors and a 9 kohm last resistor 204, the input sense voltage is 0.01·VX(t). The output voltage Vout(t) is sensed in the same manner using series coupled resistors 206 as a voltage divider to generate an output sense voltage Vso.
FIG. 3A depicts the switch state controller 114 with two analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) 302 and 304. ADCs 302 and 304 convert respective sense voltages Vsx and Vso to respective digital output voltages Vx(n) and VO(n) using a reference voltage VREF. The reference voltage can be a bandgap developed voltage reference.
FIG. 3B depicts a power supply system 350. The power supply system 350 includes switching power converter 102 to provide power factor correction and to provide output voltage VO(t). (Output voltage VO(t) is the same as output voltage Vc(t) in FIG. 1.) In at least one embodiment, the power supply system 350 provides power to a load 353 that can enter a very low power state (such as a standby-mode) or completely ‘off’ state. Examples of load 353 are computer systems or other data processing systems. During normal operation, switching power converter 102 is ‘on’ and performs a boost converter function to boost the input voltage Vx(t) from, e.g. 130V, to generate output voltage VO(t), such as +400V. The output voltage VO(t) is provided to the main power supply 354 and to the standby power supply 352. “Normal” operation is when the power supply 350 is not in a low-power or ‘off’ state. The main power supply 354 provides a variety of voltages, such as +3V, +5V, and +12V, to power various components of load 353 during normal operation. The auxiliary power supply 128 provides primary power to switch state controller 114. The switch state controller 114 includes an input to receive the power from auxiliary power supply 128. However, during certain power loss conditions, auxiliary power supply 128 provides insufficient operating power to switch state controller 114. During such power loss conditions, switch state controller 114 becomes inoperative. The power loss conditions include a standby-mode when auxiliary power supply 128 is intentionally shut-down to save power. Power loss conditions also occur when switching power converter 102 is inoperative. In at least one embodiment, auxiliary power supply 128 receives power from switching power converter 102. Thus, when switching power converter 102 is inoperative, such as during a missed cycle of input voltage VX(t), auxiliary power supply 128 provides insufficient operating power to switch state controller 114.
Voltage regulators and other components (not shown) can be connected between auxiliary power supply 128 and switch state controller 114. The standby power supply 352 supplies, for example, up to 5 W of power to load 353. The main power supply 354 supplies, for example, up to 500 W of power. The particular amount of power supplied by the standby power supply 352 and the main power supply 354 are a matter of design choice.
Each of the components 102, 114, 352, 354, and 128 include an underlined state, i.e. ON or OFF, that represents the state of the components 102, 114, 352, 354, and 128 in standby mode. In standby-mode, only the standby power supply 352 is ON. In standby-mode, the standby power supply 352 provides an auxiliary output voltage VA that provides power to circuits (not shown) that operate during low power states, such as standby-mode monitoring circuits. The standby power supply 352 also provides power to components of load 353 that are used to initialize other components of load 353 as the components enter normal operation.
Because switching power converter 102 is ‘off’ during standby-mode, the output voltage VO(t) drops to the input voltage Vx(t). Thus, the standby power supply 352 must be designed to provide output power from voltages ranging from Vx(t) to VO(t), such as +130V to +400V. The resulting standby power supply 352 is, thus, generally less efficient than a power supply designed to operate with an approximately constant input voltage. Thus, there is a need for a switching power converter that can provide an approximately constant input voltage when operating.